SALEM, Ore. – Police caught a 70-year-old man with a loaded handgun after he allegedly robbed a Salem lottery deli at gunpoint early Tuesday morning.
Officers were called out about 1 a.m. on reports of a “hold-up” alarm at Cooper’s Deli on Hawthorne Avenue Northeast.
Officers say they saw a man walk out of the deli as they were approaching the location. When he saw police, he reportedly turned around and ran.
After a short chase, the man followed officers’ commands to stop and he was detained.
Dannie Kay Alston, 70, of Salem, had a loaded .22 caliber pistol at the time of his arrest, police officials said.
Officers reviewed surveillance video of the robbery and confirmed it was Alston. They also returned the stolen goods to the business.
Alston was booked into the Marion County Jail on first-degree robbery and felon in possession of a firearm.